Novel oilfield technologies such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have allowed producers to generate a tremendous amount of hydrocarbon from tight, ultra-low permeability source rock such as shale and similar formations. The process of fracking involves the high-pressure injection of fracking fluid into a wellbore to create cracks in the deep rock formations through which natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely. More often than not, the wells begin producing immediately after fracking. At the beginning of a well's production, there is a period of high production rate, also known as “flash production.” Thereafter, oil and gas production levels fall off rapidly. The short life spans of the wells are one of the greatest weaknesses of the fracking process. In order to stretch the lifespan of these wells, operators are re-Fracking the wells one or multiple times to re-stimulate the well. The re-fracking process is often uneconomical and is environmentally unacceptable in certain locations.
A potential alternative to rapid production decline was recently suggested when an operator was required to shut-in a well for approximately three month after fracking until the pipeline became available to transport the hydrocarbons to the market. During shut in, while waiting for the pipeline in the post-fracking period, the operators continued to monitor the seismic activities to the well. The operators observed that the well was still showing signs of seismic activities such as extensions of the micro-fractures in the rock. After the flow-back of the fracturing fluid, the operators further discovered that the production decline behavior of the wells put on production without delays after the flow-back were comparable to the well that endured three months of delay. Additionally, the production of hydrocarbons form the well had improved drastically. However, the cause of this effect has not yet been explored. There is a need in the market to be able to stimulate this effect in wells in order to enhance hydrocarbon production without the need for additional fracking.